| My five year old Dane was having some issues and we ran some tests that showed her Creotin (spelling?) was high -- but urinealysis was normal -- we just finished a round of antibiotics. I'm going to ask for the ACTH test as she has many of the symptoms. Thanks for posting -- I'm anxious (and scared) to read more -- but the more I know, the better I can help my dog.
Thanks for this great forum! |
| I really love your site, but I would enjoy it if you showed some brindells occasionally!!! |
| To the person who didn't think you did many stories on brindles, here are some links:
http://www.ginnie.com/DaDane284.shtml http://www.ginnie.com/DaDane282.shtml http://www.ginnie.com/DaDane269.shtml http://www.ginnie.com/DaDane217.shtml Brindles get equal time!! Thanks Ginnie~ |
| I feel so bad writing this, my first Dane "Baby" was five when he passed. The only time I had to take him to the vet besides shots and regular check up, was when he developed a hematoma on first the right ear and then the left, over a years time. The vet never said anyting about AD maybe he didn't know about it I sure didn't until last week when I read your page. Baby seemed fine after his second operation to drain the blood from his ear. He was drinking a lot of liquids but it didn't seem abnormal at the time, he was eating fine. But now that I think about it he was really uncomfortable at night making noises I don't remember hearing before, but still I didn't think that much about it. We went to an amusement park one day, leaving him in the house because I felf it was too hot outside for him. We got home early because I knew he needed to be left out and fed. I fed him like normal and let him outside. He was out no more then 5 minutes when my husband let him in and he dropped. By the time I could reach him he was gone. Now I am wondering if maybe I had paid more attention or asked more questions from my vet he would have lived longer. I dont know if it was AD but I sure wish I had taken that extra step and read up more about the breed. He was a beautiful dog and and a great best friend. I now have 2 danes and I am overly protective of them. So I thank you for your knowledge and help in making sure this doesn't go unnoticed. |
| Ginnie has Brindles featured quite often. Among them is a Brindle that Peg & I feel was one of the most handsome guys & silly as well. He is definatly not the only one that has been on DaDane of Da Week. He was even a "Patriot" <Grin>. |
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Ginnie, You can add George's story to the others. He was diagnosed with the "Atypical" or Glucocorticoid form of this disease during a routine blood test while being evaluated for another unrelated condition. Our vet noted that his Eosinophil count (a type of white blood cell) was off the charts. After she ruled out the most common causes (allergy and/or parasitic infection) she gave him the ACTH stim test and his result was zero! Meaning George cannot produce any hormones in response to stress. He is managed on small doses of maintenance Prednisone and it is my job to determine when he needs more to help him cope with a possible stressful situation which is not always easy to determine. I am happy to report he has been living with this (as well as early dilated cardiomyopathy) for several years now without any signs or symptoms of the disease. In fact he will be the ripe old age of 6 this Feb! You will note his white face in the attached picture. This happened early on and my vet attributes it in part to the amount and length of his steroid therapy to keep his disease under control. I am grateful to my vet for being so persistent (a high Eosinophil count is one of the rarest symptoms of the disease) and to you for bringing attention to this potentially lethal problem. Thanks, Kelli and "Gorgeous George" |
| Thanks for bringing up the Addison's issue. Everyone I have talked to about my dane, haven't heard of the disease in dogs. Summer (3, harl.) was diagnosed when she was 1.5 years. My husband and I had gone on a short trip and left her at a boarding kennel (which had been highly recommended). When we picked her up 5 days later, she looked horrible. The worst part was that she didn't seem to recognize us or care that we were back. We knew something was wrong and took her to our vet. She had several episodes of diahrrea and her fur was dull and shedding. She wouldn'd get out of the car when we got to the vet and growled at her when she tried to help us lift her. (Summer loves the vet!) Luckily our vet decided we should immediately go to the University Vet School after she was started on fluids and they recognized the signs of Addison's Disease. They told us how close we were to losing her. She had lost 16 lbs over the time that we were gone and the kennel says that she ate and defecated normally the whole time she was there. I don't know how she lost so much weight then. She is doing great now on her prednisone and monthly injection. We haven't left her since and don't plan on it. We do call her the "Most expensive dog in the world" though. She also had TPLO surgeries on both knees this year! She is so worth it! What an angel to put up with her problems so well!
Thanks again! |
| Ginnie,
thank you so much for running the stories on addisons. Hermes has had it for 3 years now. We like all the other people that have contacted you have been on the roller coaster and have learned what triggers bad days and when just a bit of boost is needed by some prednisone. The people at the yahoo groups for K9 addisons are some of the most special people in the world and without their support i never would have made it through the first crash or had the guts to go find a vet that was so willing to work with me. Im a nurse and now certified in IV therapy so the vet is going to send supplies home with me so that the next time Hermes needs an IV for a crash I can do it at home. God bless you GInnie for being so special leatha and herms |
| Kudos to Ginnie for another great health series!!
I had an Addisonian Dane about 10 years ago - very atypical in that she presented with cardiac symptoms only. On two separate occasions she collapsed, we couldn't find a heartbeat etc. She recovered with fluid therapy and steroids but since we didn't know what was wrong we didn't continue the steroids. Fortunately my vet referred me to a specialist for a cardiac ultrasound and he immediately suspected AD. The ACTH test confirmed it and she was put on Florinef and lived very happily for 3 more years. Cheers, Barb & the crew |
| Ginnie, once again you and Bobbie hit the nail on the head. THANK YOU for making another of our "Dane" diseases more understandable. WE owe you a lot for working to help our breed! Love ya!
Lynnie |
| K-9 , my black dane, he was so great for companion. Wherever I walk with him, most people always adore him, some always stare and to stay away from us. But he left us on March 04-04 in a sudden and unexpectable way. So it still hard to talk about him. He was only 3yrs. We 've just came back from our vacation with him, when several days later we found his paw print all over the concrete close to swimming pool. When my husband checked his paw, it was some scretch on his pad,so we cleaned it with hp, and seems ok. But he didn't want calm down and kept wandering a whole nite. The next morning, when I left I noticed that his left eye look like smaller and told my husband about it. When I left him,he looked very very sad, but I thought because of his pad was still hurting him. We made appointment with our vet for the day after .In the afternoon, my husband called me at work .said that his mom called him to let him know that K-9 kept walked in circle ,seem he didn't even know where was he and even she never had a dog who behave like that, she could tell that K-9 wasn't feeling well at all and even said that it would be a miracle if he still alive when we came home. I started to harden my heart and prepared for the worst. As soon as we came home, we found him laying, couldn't even move. When he heard our voice he started to stand up but he couldn't walked straight , had to go to the corner. or aside of the wall for guard. We petted him and kept saying that we loved him. We knew that he didn't touch his bowl at all so we just told him to lay down, which he did and he started breathing very hard as he was so exhausted. I told my husband to try call the vet for the morning, rather than wait for the day after and we got it.
In that morning, we found him circling around again, and actually he knocked down some of table when he started to stand up. When my husband put him to the leash he was so happy as usual and ready to go, but the view was not good at all he had to pull and actually bend his paw for walking and almost lean over to my husband. I was so upset. When we left the house his head was stick out of the window as usual. I had my hope and promise to my self I would spend a whole Saturday with him alone(usually I worked for 6 days ), after he was well, but I know I was in denial. I could feel something went terribly wrong with him. ON the way to the vet we had to stop several times because K-9 was going wild and always lean to the door . When my husband dropped me off at work, K-9 who was sitting at the back seat, raised his head but didn't want to look at me at all. I told him, that I loved him and we would go together to the park after he was well. About 1/2 hour later, my phone rang, and my husband was upset because our regular vet didn't have his name for appointment that morning, and no big kennel available . so he had to drove him to another vet that his mom used a lot for her st bennard. About 1 hour later he came to my office and I thought K-9 was just being left at the vet for treatment. When he said "I'm sorry,babe" I just couldn't thinking, that my baby was gone, he said K-9 had seizure twice at the vet office in the waiting room , he breath so hard and the heart beating so fast like he was scared, he couldn't even walked and recognized him . He was down on the floor in the vet office with the vet checked his heart and my husband on his side. I'm sorry if my story was so boring, but I wish I knew his breed disease more. I was only concern about hipdisplacia for this great breed. I was prepare for 7 yrs with him not for 3yrs. Everytime I was upset about K-9, my husband always reminds me about our 3 great years with him and our last memorable trip. I promise to myself that next time when I'm ready for another dane, I should know already about their health issue and will take all of the precaution. I hope all of you can give me some more information about the disease and other disease for the breed that we love.I just hope K-9 knows that I am still and always will love him. Thank you very much fot giving me a chance to spit out my ache heart. Linda and Aaron Ps: any suggestion and comment will be accepted at my email linda_nice98@yahoo.com |
| My 21 month old dane, Agape was diagnosed with AD this last week. We too almost lost her. She's gained a few pounds, chased a ball yesterday & stole my son's breakfast this morning. Sheee'ssss baaaaacccckkk! ANY INFO ON FINDING THEIR OH SO EXPENSIVE MEDS ANYWHERE CHEAPLY (CANADA? MEXICO? DISCOUNTER?) |
| You can use an oral medication in a compounded dosage (an entire day's meds in one capsule) for about $30-$40 a month. The generic name is "fludrocortisone acetate" and is generally prescribed at 0.1mg per 10 pounds of body weight -so a dog weighing 150# would require 1.5 mg a day. Since the majority of the cost of compounded meds is the labor of putting the powder into the capsules, the price of this pretty much the same whether you're treating a 50# dog or a 150# dog!
In other words: A month's supply of the compounded version of the brand name "Florinef" (which, btw, sells for about $1.25 a pill) would cost about a dollar a day to treat a 150# Dane with an entire day's dosage in one capsule -versus $15 a day for 15 individual "brand name" Florinef tablets. |
| I have a black great dane who will be four in May of this year. He was diagnosed with Addison's Disease last July. We had gone on vacation and left him at a kennel and when we got back from our trip Rocky had lost 21 pounds, weighing only 103 lbs. We took him home and he started eating and gaining his weight back, so we thought he was just depressed that we had left him. Then, 4th of July came and Rocky HATES fireworks, it was 2 days after that that he went into crisis mode. Luckily the emergency vet we took him to knew to test him for addison's. They kept him overnight giving him fluids waiting for the test results and first thing the next morning he was given his first injection. Everything looked better, but then 1 week later he went into crisis mode again, turns out that the injection only covered part of his problem and he needed prednisone too. I feel so lucky that the vet saved him in time. He now takes prednisone every day and gets an injection every two months. Unfortunately, the prednisone lowers immunity and every time we leave town, unless our friends can stay with him, he comes down with something new - skin infections, etc. We have in home care for him now, he does better, but still I HATE leaving him and we try not to do it often. Rocky is so much apart of our family, it hurts to watch him suffer. We consider ourselves to be lucky to still have him in our life. He is now 160 pounds and beautiful! |
| My 4 year old female dane has been having vomitting and retching problems for the past 6 months. It happens about once a month, she'll vomit until her stomach is empty of food and bile and then retch every 15-20 minutes for 2 to 3 days. She'll also drool a lot and is very uncomfertable and lethergic. Once it stops, she's back to her normal, playful self. My vet thought it was heliocbacter bacteria (it was found in her stomach when she bloated 2 years ago). I was convinced this was it but one day before her last round of antibiotics ended she had a retching episode again that lasted a few days.
Does this sound like it could possible be Addison's Disease? Has anyone else heard of a Dane with symptons like this? My vet has suggested possible IBD but it seems unlikely that this would happen now, she's been eating Innova since she was a year. If anyone could shed some light on this, I'd really appreciate it. I'm really worried that this may be indicating a serious health problem that my vet is not finding. |
| Hi Britta!
To answer your question on your dog's symptoms -yes, it certainly COULD be Addison's Disease -but without running the ACTH test, there's no way to know for sure! Please ask your vet to consider ruling out Addison's before performing the invasive testing for IBD. You could save yourself and your Dane from a lot of unnecessary stress and pain (both physical and in the pocketbook!) if this is her problem! |